CASE 11 “GREAT LAKES: GREAT DECISIONS” 1

Great Lakes: Great Decisions

Perform an analysis of the Social/Demographic, Technological, Economic,

Environmental/Geographic, and Political/Legal/Governmental segments to understand the

general environment facing Great Lakes. Describe how Great Lakes will be affected by each of

these external factors.

Social /Demographic Segments: Being that they are going to be affecting different Social

and Demographic areas it will be extremely important that they make the right decisions.

Socially it will affect how the people of different cultures use the products and how it affects

their health and safety. The demographics are in place as they are the underdeveloped countries

who are mostly using the TEL. Great Lakes will be affected by the limitations they have in

helping these people in the regions that they produce for.

Technological Segments: The technological aspects that affect Great lakes are really not

the issue for them. The issues come from the underdeveloped countries not being able to

successfully produce unleaded gasoline. Maybe if they were to work in conjunction with these

underdeveloped countries on the technology they may be able to not only help those countries,

but also Great lakes themselves.

Economic Segments: Economically, Great Lakes will ultimately be affected. They

eventually will have to surrender to the health and safety issues and stop or limit production of

the additives. By doing this they will see a drop in profitability for a while, but eventually will

probably do better in the long run. This will have an effect on the countries that still use leaded

gasoline and do not have the resources to produce the unleaded gas.
CASE 11 “GREAT LAKES: GREAT DECISIONS” 2

Environmental/ Geographical Segments: The environmental issues that are in front of

them are significant. They are facing tough challenges from the environmentalist. They are

receiving pressure to do the right thing and do it in a timely manner. Geographically they are

limited as they are based here in the United States and production and manufacturing is based

here. They could try and globalize to make efforts more effective in these other countries, but

think that it may open up another can of worms. The environmentalists are going to have a huge

effect on the future of Great Lakes.

Political/Legal/Governmental Segments: On top of the environmentalist, the stricter

government regulations will eventually drive Great lakes into stopping or significantly reducing

the production of TEL. Politically the bad press will eventually lead to the legal changes in the

production of the additives. Great Lakes will not have much choice I the matter as time goes on.

Analyze the lead additives industry in the U.S. using the Five Forces of Competition Model.

Describe the impact of each of the five forces on the industry and based on this analysis,

determine if the industry is attractive or unattractive.

Economically the affects that the environmentalist will have on the lead additive will

probably be the largest factors. They will put enough bad press out there to change legislation

and ultimately affect the amount of additives that Great Lakes are able to produce.

Threat of New Entry: At this time I do not see any threats of new entry because Great

Lakes already do 90% of the business for additives.

Power of Supplier: Great Lakes is the supplier and there acquisition n of Octel solidified

their supplier. Now they are the main supplier to the underdeveloped countries.

Power of the Buyers: The buyers are the underdeveloped countries with not much power due to

the fact that they can produce the unleaded gasoline.

CASE 11 “GREAT LAKES: GREAT DECISIONS” 3

Threat of Substitutes: There is the threat of substitutes because of the production and use

of unleaded fuel. Until these other countries can substantially produce the unleaded fuel, there is

not an immediate threat to Great Lakes additive business.

Rivalry among Existing Competitors: There is no rivalry at this time because Great

Lakes really do not have any competitors. They are free reign right now unless someone else

come in and redesigns the wheel and is able to economically show underdeveloped countries

how to produce unleaded gasoline substantially.

Ultimately I do not see this as an attractive industry to jump into. There is enough bad

press going on about the additives, so why would a company want to enter themselves into the

fire pit. If it were a company who had the capability to help the other countries produce unleaded

gasoline then I might say yes it is attractive, but in that sense it is not really the same business.

Describe who Great Lakes’ immediate, impending, and invisible competitors are and how

Great Lakes measures up against these competitors.

Great Lakes do not really have any immediate competitors. They kind of rule the roost so

to say. There is always an impending and invisible competitor, but again I say that they would

have to have some large capital and be willing to invest in the underdeveloped countries

producing unleaded gasoline. By doing this they would take out the enormous need for Great

Lakes additives and effectively take away their profitability. Great Lakes are on top of their

game as far as the leaded gas additives go and I don't foresee anyone knocking them off of it

anytime soon.

Describe the main capabilities of Great Lakes.

CASE 11 “GREAT LAKES: GREAT DECISIONS” 4

The main capabilities of Great Lakes are that they have the stronghold on the additive

and leaded gasoline market. They have the foundation and stronghold to keep producing the

additive without competing business. They are the supplier and the producer of these products

and control that aspect of the businesses. They have the capability to sway the market either

direction and probably continue to sell the additives for as long as they want. They are though

using their capabilities to try and work with environmentalist and Government to make the

change to unleaded gasoline only. I do not see them completely shutting down the production

and uses of TEL, but do see them trying to limit its production and use. With the ever changing

world and economy, it would be detrimental for Great Lakes to change completely to comply

with the environmentalist. They would see huge decreases in profits and would have to lay off

workers which would only add to the unemployment rates. They have the capabilities ultimately

to affect change in the industry and also bring about better health and safety in other regions of

the world.
CASE 11 “GREAT LAKES: GREAT DECISIONS” 5

References

Hitt, M. A., Ireland, R. D., & Hoskisson, R. E. (2011). Strategic management: Competitiveness

and globalization, concepts and cases: 2011 custom edition (9th ed.). Mason, OH: South-

Western Cengage Learning.